The ultimate homework cheat? How teachers are facing up to ChatGPT
“Have I seen this somewhere before?”
It’s a question teachers have had to ask themselves while marking assignments since time immemorial.
But never mind students trawling through Wikipedia, or perusing SparkNotes for some Great Gatsby analysis, the backend of 2022 saw another challenge emerge for schools: ChatGPT.
The online chatbot, which can generate realistic responses on a whim, took the world by storm by its ability to do everything from solving computer bugs, to helping write a Sky News article about itself.
Last week, concerned about cheating students, America’s largest education department banned it.
New York City‘s teaching authority said while it could offer “quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success”.
Of course, that’s not going to stop pupils using it at home – but could they really use it as a homework shortcut?
Teachers vs ChatGPT – round one
First up, Sky News asked a secondary school science teacher from Essex, who was not familiar with the bot, to feed ChatGPT a homework question.
Galaxies contain billions of stars. Compare the formation and life cycles of stars with a similar mass to the Sun to stars with a much greater mass than the Sun.
It’s fair to say that ChatGPT let the mask slip almost immediately, as you can see in the images below.
Asking ChatGPT to answer the same question “to secondary school standard” prompted another detailed response.
The teacher’s assessment?
“Well, this is definitely more detailed than any of my students. It does go beyond what you’d expect for GCSE, so I would be very suspicious if someone submitted it. I would assume that they’d copied and pasted from somewhere.”
Teachers vs ChatGPT – round two
Next was a Kent primary school teacher, also unfamiliar with ChatGPT, who gave it a recent homework task.
Research a famous Londoner and write a biography of their lives, including their childhood and their career achievements.
No problem, said ChatGPT, though it’s fair to say that any nine-year-old who submitted the answer below is either being fast-tracked to university or going straight into a lunchtime detention.
“Even just glancing at that, I’d say they copied it straight off the internet,” said the teacher.
“No 11-year-old knows the word tumultuous.”
‘Key decisions’ facing schools
So just as copying straight from a more familiar website is going to set alarm bells ringing for teachers, so too would lifting verbatim from ChatGPT.
But pupils are among the most internet-savvy people around, and ChatGPT’s ability to instantly churn out seemingly textbook-level responses will still need to be monitored, teachers say.
Jane Basnett, director of digital learning at Downe House School in Berkshire, told Sky News the chatbot presented schools with some “key decisions” to make.
“As with all technology, schools have to teach students how to use technology properly,” she said.
“So, with ChatGPT, students need to have the knowledge to know whether the work produced is any good, which is why we need to teach students to be discerning.”
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Given its rapid emergence, Ms Basnett is already exploring how her school’s anti-plagiarism systems will cope with auto-generated essays.
But just as teachers must consider teaching students about the benefits and pitfalls of using AI, Ms Basnett said her colleagues should also be open to its potential.
“ChatGPT is incredibly powerful and as a teacher I can see some benefits,” she said.
“For example, I can type in a request to create a series of lessons on a particular grammar point, and it will create a lesson for me. It would take a teacher to analyse the created lesson and amend it, because the suggested lesson, whilst not bad, was not ideal. But, the key elements were there and it could be really useful.
“I could imagine using a created essay from ChatGPT and working through it with my students to examine the merits and faults of the essay.”
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Will this chatbot replace humans?
Dr Peter Van der Putten, assistant professor of AI at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said institutions which chose to prohibit or ignore the technology would only be burying their head in the sand.
“It’s there, just how like Google is there,” said Dr Van der Putten.
“You can write it into your policies for preventing plagiarism, but it’s a reality that the tool exists.
“Sometimes you do need to embrace these things, but be very clear about when you don’t want it to be used.”
‘Bull****er on steroids’
For students and teachers alike, it’s an opportunity to improve their digital literacy.
While it has proved its worth when tasked with being creative, such as to problem-solve or come up with ideas, true comprehension and understanding remains beyond it.
Developer OpenAI acknowledges answers can be “overly verbose” and even “incorrect or nonsensical”, despite sounding legitimate in most cases, like some sort of desperate, underprepared job interviewee.
As Dr Van der Putten says, ChatGPT is often little more than a “bull*****er on steroids”.
Teaching students about those limitations is the best way to ensure they don’t over rely on it – even in a pinch.
The man suspected of shooting dead two Israeli embassy workers in Washington DC leaned over and fired at them repeatedly after they fell to the ground, the FBI has said.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, has been charged with murdering Sarah Milgrim and her boyfriend Yaron Lischinsky, after they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night.
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Footage has showed Rodriguez, from Chicago, chanting “free, free Palestine” as he was arrested.
It later emerged Mr Lischinsky had bought a ring and planned to propose to Ms Milgrim.
Authorities are investigating the killings as both a hate crime against the Jewish community and terrorism.
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Shootings suspect shouts ‘free Palestine!’
‘I did it for Gaza’
It comes as the FBI has said in a charging document on Thursday that surveillance footage shows how Ms Milgrim and Mr Lischinsky died.
Rodriguez is allegedly seen passing the couple after they left the museum before shooting them in the back.
The FBI says the footage then shows him leaning over the couple and firing at them several more times after they fell to the ground.
The video then shows Ms Milgrim attempting to crawl away before “(Rodriguez) followed behind her and fired again”, the charging document says.
The suspected gunman is then accused of reloading his weapon and firing at Ms Milgrim as she sat up.
According to the charging document, Rodriguez then jogged to the museum and once inside asked to speak to a police officer before stating that he “did it” and that he was unarmed.
He is then said to have told police: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed.”
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DC shooting: Father pays tribute to ‘perfect’ daughter
Suspect ‘expressed admiration’ for fatal protest
The court document also states that 21 expended 9mm bullet cases were found at the scene and the gun was slide-locked – meaning it was empty of ammunition.
An empty gun magazine was also recovered from the scene.
The FBI says it has obtained travel records which show Rodriguez flew from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to the Reagan National in Washington DC on Tuesday with the gun in his checked baggage.
Rodriguez had bought the weapon in the state of Illinois on 6 March 2020, according to the charging document.
The FBI has said that while Rodriguez was in custody he “expressed admiration” for a US Air Force member who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC on 25 February 2024.
Aaron Bushnell died in the apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza.
Rodriguez also told police he bought a ticket to the museum around three hours before the event that was attended by Ms Milgrim and Mr Lischinsky.
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During a brief court appearance at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington DC today, Rodriguez was charged with two counts of first degree murder and with the murder of foreign officials.
He has also been charged with causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Rodriguez was told he could face life in prison or the death penalty if he is found guilty.
He remained calm throughout the hearing, paying attention to the proceedings throughout and confirmed that he is asking the court to appoint an attorney on his behalf.
He will next appear at a federal court in Washington DC on 18 June.
Murdered couple ‘were perfect for each other’
Meanwhile, Ms Milgrim’s father, Robert, says he feared his daughter might be in danger when he saw news alerts of a fatal shooting in Washington DC.
Ms Milgrim’s mother Nancy opened a phone locator app and saw Ms Milgrim was at the Capital Jewish Museum.
“Shortly after that, the Israeli ambassador called us on my wife’s phone,” Mr Milgrim told Sky News’ partner network NBC News, fighting back tears.
He added that it was the ambassador who told them Mr Lischinksy had bought a ring and was planning to propose to Ms Milgrim.
“They were perfect for each other, he said.
Mr Milgrim continued: “They just brought us joy, and her memory, which is a blessing, will continue to bring us joy – but it’s not the same as her not being here.”
Donald Trump hosted a dinner for investors in his meme coin on Thursday, as critics warned the US president was putting personal profit first.
Some 220 of the biggest investors in the $TRUMP meme coin descended on the exclusive dinner at Mr Trump’s private country club in Northern Virginia.
As the US president arrived, more than a hundred protesters at the Trump National Golf Club held signs that included “America is not for sale”, “stop crypto corruption” and “release the list”.
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren described the dinner, where the US president spoke for about half an hour before dancing to the song YMCA, as an “orgy of corruption”.
Donald Trump leaves the White House to attend his own meme coin gala. Pic: Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein
Access to the dinner, and the president, was earned by purchasing enough of his $TRUMP meme coin to secure a seat.
The White House insisted Mr Trump would attend the event “in his personal time”, but the lectern he stood behind had the presidential seal.
NBC News reported that during his remarks, Mr Trump did not unveil any new crypto policies but spoke in support of a potential bitcoin reserve and then left promptly afterward.
In total, investors spent an estimated $148m (£110m), with the top 25 holders of the coin spending more than $111m (£82.56m), according to crypto intelligence firm Inca Digital.
A company controlled by the Trump family, and a second firm, hold 80% of the remaining $TRUMP coins and have so far earned $320.19m (£238.14m), including at least $1.35m (£1m) after the dinner announcement, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
‘Trump a very successful businessman,’ says White House
According to blockchain analysis, more than half of the 220 holders who attended the black-tie event are likely based outside the US.
This has led to claims the US president has auctioned off access to himself to foreign investors for personal gain.
In response to criticisms about Mr Trump using his office to enrich himself from the meme coin, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “All of the president’s assets are in a blind trust, which is managed by his children.
“And I would argue, one of the many reasons that the American people re-elected this president back to this office is because he was a very successful businessman before giving it up to publicly serve our country.”
Protesters gather outside Trump National Golf Course ahead of the dinner.
Pic: Reuters
Trump arrives back at White House after attending the crypto dinner. Pic: AP/John McDonnell
Who was on the guest list?
One of those attending was China-born crypto entrepreneur and billionaire Justin Sun.
He won first place in the dinner contest with his $18.5m (£13.76m) wallet of the Trump meme coin and is the largest publicly known investor in the family’s crypto platform – which has made them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Mr Sun posted videos of himself visiting parts of the White House complex on Wednesday, and on Thursday of Mr Trump at the dinner event.
In February, the US Securities and Exchange Commission paused a 2023 fraud case against him, citing public interest.
Demonstrators protest near Trump National Golf Club before the arrival of the president.
Pic: AP/Rod Lamkey Jr
However, the identities of the majority of the coin holders attending the event remain unknown.
Of those going, one was simply known as Ogle, a crypto security specialist who appears in video interviews with his face covered by a bandana and sunglasses.
He says this is to protect his identity.
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Even some pro-Trump crypto voices worried his personal involvement may hurt efforts to establish credibility.
“It’s distasteful and an unnecessary distraction,” said Nic Carter, a Trump supporter and partner at the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures.
“We would much rather that he passes common sense legislation and leave it at that.”
The event was capped off with an after-party, called “Meme The Night,” thrown by a Singapore-based meme-coin engagement company called MemeCore.
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